Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Prosecutor General’s Office are investigating Colonel Valeriy Khrebet, former head of the Central Armament Logistics Command, over the purchase of defective tank components worth 91.2 million UAH. The official is suspected of military negligence after approving contracts for non-functional cooling system parts intended for T-64 and T-72 battle tanks.
According to law enforcement, the Logistics Command signed two procurement agreements with «Investment Solution LLC» in May and August 2022. The contracts covered engine cooling tubes critical for maintaining armored vehicles on the front lines.
The first contract, valued at 20.1 million UAH, was signed on May 17, followed by a second agreement on August 24 worth 71.1 million UAH. Despite the supplier offering prices significantly above market value, official records indicate that Colonel Khrebet failed to verify or justify the pricing structure. In total, the signed procurement agreements exceeded 171 million UAH.
Pre-trial investigations and technical evaluations revealed that the supplied engine components were completely defective. The parts failed to meet technical documentation and engineering blueprints, making them impossible to install or use on military hardware.
Financial Impact: Independent expert evaluations confirmed that the procurement of unusable military equipment resulted in direct damages to the state exceeding 83 million UAH.
The officer’s actions have been classified under Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (negligent attitude toward military service). Investigators state that Khrebet failed to organize mandatory quality control measures mandated by military regulations and Internal Instruction No. 500.
The Kyiv Court of Appeal recently upheld a decision by the Pechersk District Court to keep Colonel Valeriy Khrebet in custody. The court set bail at 50 million UAH as the pre-trial investigation continues.